1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications and, in particular, to call party identification. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to rating calling parties according to party identifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Telephone communication channels are often utilized as a resource for selling products and services. For example, a sales person may call a list of potential purchasers with a product offer. In another example, an individual may call a business and reach a sales associate.
Use of telephone lines originated by a business for sales purposes is often referred to as telemarketing. Many telephone subscribers find telemarketing calls to be an annoyance and find ways to screen calls and avoid telemarketers. For example, telephone subscribers may subscribe to a caller ID service providing for the display of the line number from which a call is placed. However, a limitation of caller ID is that the identity of the actual caller is not provided and telemarketing business may block the line number ID from display.
A further limitation of telemarketing and phone sales is the identity of the telemarketer is not verifiable. Further, the expertise and sales ability of the sales person are not provided to the potential customer.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for rating parties to a call according to each party's identity. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide telemarketer ratings to a potential customer with the telemarketer identity. Further, it would be advantageous to allow each potential customer contacted by a telemarketer to rate the telemarketer and the business, whether the ratings are provided to future potential customers.